Necromancy

Necromancy, the art or practice of divination (q.v.) by calling up the spirits of the dead that they may answer questions put to them (cf. Deut. xviii. 11; 1 Sam. xxviii. 7-25). The so-called materialisation of the departed at spiritualistic seances is a form of necromancy. Late in the Middle Ages the term was applied to magic generally from an erroneous derivation.